Oscars promises tension and drama
ACADEMY AWARDS RTÉ2, TONIGHT, 9.30PM
REMEMBER the time when people used to stay up late to watch the Oscars live? Remember the time when you’d stock up on popcorn and sit there, notebook in hand, ticking off the categories and rooting for your favourite flicks?
That all seems like a different age.
After all, once you’ve seen one Oscars ceremony you’ve pretty much seen them all.
Of course, every now and then, something noteworthy happens, such as last year’s Best Film snafu involving Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. And, I suppose, many of us still haven’t stopped laughing since George Clooney accepted his award and gave a speech about how only actors and the Hollywood industry in general could save the world and educate the rest of us plebs about morality.
So, how will this year’s
Oscars (RTÉ2, tonight, 9.30pm) pan out? From an Irish perspective, there is plenty of interest in this year’s event, with Saoirse Ronan and Martin McDonagh all in the frame for a gong. But the main focus will undoubtedly be on the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. In fact, Time’s Up have demanded, and received, a ‘special space’ in the proceedings, and I’m sure everyone will be stunning and brave.
Jimmy Kimmel is wearing his hosting-cap and you’d nearly feel sorry for him. What was once one of the most coveted presenting gigs in Hollywood has become a rather poisoned chalice and this year, with tensions already high, he has to walk a precarious tight rope between keeping the show on time, being funny, and not offending anyone. Good luck with that...
The perceived wisdom is that you should never go back. But fans of Philip Pullman will be glad he did just that with last year’s prequel to His Dark Materials.
That rather wonderful book, La Belle Sauvage, was a risk worth taking and the author pulled up with aplomb. Apart from being a cracking, old-fashioned yarn featuring the usual Pullman targets – the Church, authority figures in general – he also tapped into the growing tide of student-led fundamentalism with the League of St Alexander, who run around reporting wrong-thinkers for heresy.
Tonight sees the most interesting interview of the week with Imagine – Philip Pullman: Angels and Daemons (BBC One, 11.40pm). Alan Yentob meets his old friend in the author’s hometown and inspiration, Oxford, and the pair discuss his genesis as a writer, interspersed with quotes from famous talking heads discussing how much the books mean to them.
It all runs the risk of becoming luvvie-heaven, but La Belle Sauvage was a more than worthy addition to the Dark Materials canon and this promises to be fascinating.